Is Hamilton Thorne Ltd.'s (CVE:HTL) Shareholder Ownership Skewed Towards Insiders?
A look at the shareholders of Hamilton Thorne Ltd. (CVE:HTL) can tell us which group is most powerful. Insiders often own a large chunk of younger, smaller, companies while huge companies tend to have institutions as shareholders. I generally like to see some degree of insider ownership, even if only a little. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, 'Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.
Hamilton Thorne is a smaller company with a market capitalization of CA$194m, so it may still be flying under the radar of many institutional investors. In the chart below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about Hamilton Thorne.
View our latest analysis for Hamilton Thorne
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Hamilton Thorne?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Hamilton Thorne already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Hamilton Thorne's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.
Our data indicates that hedge funds own 10% of Hamilton Thorne. That's interesting, because hedge funds can be quite active and activist. Many look for medium term catalysts that will drive the share price higher. Daniel Thorne is currently the company's largest shareholder with 14% of shares outstanding. With 11% and 10% of the shares outstanding respectively, FAX Capital Corp. and AWM Investment Company Inc. are the second and third largest shareholders. Additionally, the company's CEO David Wolf directly holds 0.9% of the total shares outstanding.
A deeper look at our ownership data shows that the top 19 shareholders collectively hold less than half of the register, suggesting a large group of small holders where no single shareholder has a majority.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Hamilton Thorne
The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.
Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of Hamilton Thorne Ltd.. Insiders own CA$35m worth of shares in the CA$194m company. I would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
The general public -- mostly retail investors -- own 55% of Hamilton Thorne. With this size of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to decline an acquisition or merger that may not improve profitability.
Next Steps:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 4 warning signs for Hamilton Thorne that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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